


What You See, You Might Not Get

by thylakirk



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Professor Spock, Slow Burn, academy au, not so enemies to lovers, theres some coffee shop bits too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-20 21:04:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20681927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thylakirk/pseuds/thylakirk
Summary: James T. Kirk was fully prepared to be taught quantum mechanics by an old retired Starfleet Captain with no interest in his students or the subject. When a Vulcan by the name of Spock walked in to teach the physics class instead, Kirk realized that this semester might be the most interesting one yet.Or, the one where Spock is a professor at the Academy and Jim is a snarky, annoying genius.Rated T for now, rating will change in later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

“Isn’t this maybe a little…” McCoy stared in shock at the book he held in his hand, “morbid?”

Kirk threw a quick glance over his shoulder before returning to the task at hand – trying not to burn himself as he poured the freshly replicated coffee into his travel mug.

“I mean, not really.” He twisted the lid on as he walked towards his roommate. “It’s just a reference to Schrödinger’s Cat,” he grabbed the book from Bones and studied the drawing of a black and white cat on the front. His mouth quirked up in a smile. “I’d even go as far as to say it’s kind of cute.”

“You’re forgetting about the back.” Bones deadpanned, flipping the textbook over to reveal a picture of the same cat, laying down as if dead.

Kirk shrugged, smile still on his face as he shoved the textbook into the bag hanging at his side. “They had to find some way to make Quantum Mechanics interesting. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” his eyes flickered to the time flashing on the stove.

_0756_

_“…Shit.”_

Without so much as another word, Kirk slid on his boots and stumbled his way out the door. His apartment with Bones was a 10-minute walk from campus _at least_, and Jim had promised himself that when he signed up for the 8am physics class, he was actually going to attend the lectures, and he was going to attend them _on time_.

He expected to fail eventually, sure, in his defence nobody _really _likes getting up that early to cram knowledge into their brain, right? What he didn’t expect, however, was to be on track to fail the _first day of classes_.

So, intending to keep his promise to himself, he ran.

With a coffee mug in one hand and the weight of his bookbag swinging in the other, Kirk sprinted down empty alleys and through grassy fields covered in fresh dew. The coffee he held was leaking from the edge of the mug and it was burning his hands, Jim’s boots were untied and they threatened with every step to send him sprawling onto pavement, but he kept his focus on sprinting – on counting his breathing and controlling the movement of his feet.

His lungs were screaming at him from the harsh use and he felt his boots start to slip off his feet, but he continued until his knees fell onto the steps of the Physics building. He brought his left wrist in front of him, shook up his sleeve, and spared a glance to his watch as his chest heaved.

_0759_

Relief spread across his face. He wasn’t exactly on the schedule he would like to be, but he wasn’t late yet either and that’s all that mattered to him.

At least, until he saw a shiny heeled boot tapping impatiently in front of him and he heard the smooth clearing of a throat from above. Jim rose to his feet, wiped away at the dirt on his knees, and threw his bookbag over his shoulder. He grabbed the handle of the door to the academy building, opening it as if nothing abnormal had happened.

“After you, Uhura” he motioned with an exaggerated bow and a wave of his hand.

She rolled her eyes, took one of her hands from where they were folded across her chest, and smacked Jim playfully upside the head with a smile. If Jim’s gaze happened to wander down past her hips momentarily as she walked in front of him, it wasn’t his fault. Even if he was no longer romantically interested in the cadet, their friendship was based off harmless flirting and he’ll be damned if he was the one to stop it. Besides, _baby got back._

Uhura moved her bag from where it sat at her hip, behind her to cover her back. Jim scrunched his face up.

_She knew._

When the two of them arrived at the lecture hall, it was nearly full. If they wanted their preferred seats, Jim would have to make a point to leave _on time _on Monday. He scanned the room, trying to find any familiar faces, when Uhura nudged him with her elbow and silently motioned for him to follow. She led them to two empty seats near the middle of the hall, and Kirk slid into one of the desks. He took his PADD out from his bookbag and fiddled around on some applications until the murmuring of the class subsided.

From beside him he felt Uhura’s posture stiffen, probably signaling the arrival of whatever retired captain was teaching the advanced physics course. Despite the crowded hall, she always acted as if she were being interviewed one on one by the professor. God, her demand to be respected was admirable, to say the least.

Jim was still mindlessly browsing the latest Starfleet news about the newest discovered exoplanets when a voice started from the front of the room.

“Good morning, cadets.” The smooth words of someone who was _definitely _under the age of fifty carried around the lecture hall. Some students mumbled replies in greeting.

Kirk looked up to see a professor he had never seen before turning towards the PADD at the front of the hall. He picked up the pen, and as he wrote, a projected version of his notes appeared on the expansive wall behind him.

_Prof. Spock, PHYS 492: Quantum Mechanics._

“Assuming all of you acquire the ability to read, –”

Kirk snorted from his seat and Uhura turned to glare at him. He shrugged his apology, but he couldn’t really feel make himself feel sorry because a Vulcan with a sense of humour? Practically unheard of.

The professor put the pen back on his desk and placed his hands behind his back in a standard parade rest. He stood straight enough that it seemed as if someone might have stuck a rod up his back while he wasn’t looking. For a fleeting second, Jim felt the piercing gaze look directly at him.

“I am Professor Spock. In compliance with the familiarity students often experience with their professors, I am inclined to provide the entirety of my legal name. However, I am without error to conclude a vast majority of you remain incapable of repeating it without mispronunciation.” He noticed that to his side, Uhura smirked a bit to herself. Damn Xenolinguistic majors would never have that issue. Smartasses.

Professor Spock took the pen from where it sat on the desk and began to write on the PADD. “Now, should you all be in the correct room,” he pulled up a course outline, and Kirk heard students around him frantically scribbling. Seriously, fourth year students and they _still _feel the need to write down every single word? It’s a wonder they got this far in their studies. Kirk scoffed, and by the glares of the cadets around him, maybe a little too loudly.

Jim pulled up a copy of the syllabus from the course website on his own PADD and spared it a quick glance. _Wave equations and basic mechanics review, time-dependent and independent Schrodinger’s equation, probability functions, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle blah, blah, blah…_

The first week of class was pretty much entirely devoted to review of previous material. He looked up at the board to see the professor scrolling through the syllabus, talking about the textbook and material that they should be required to know.

_God, _Kirk thought, _this is going to be such an easy term._

* * *

The remainder of the class was uneventful, at least to Kirk. After looking over the syllabus as a class, they had proceeded with a basic mechanics review, where Jim felt free to let himself zone out. Instead of taking notes on the material that they should already know, like everyone around him, he devoted his time to start reading the alive/dead cat textbook that Bones seemed disgusted by.

It was… interesting, to say the least. Physics isn’t a funny subject per se, but whoever wrote the textbook seemed to have a good enough grasp on the concepts and material of quantum mechanics that they were able to joke about it in a way that even people who had never stepped foot in a physics class would enjoy. After reading the line, _“If you are not confused by quantum physics, then you haven’t really understood it”, _Kirk couldn’t stop the laugh that barked from his mouth.

He knew he did something wrong when the entire room went silent. He slowly turned his head towards Uhura and when she was looking at him both like she was embarrassed _and _like he was an idiot, he got a little nervous.

“Excuse me.”

Jim whipped his head to the front of the class where the professor – Spock – was staring directly at him.

An eyebrow lifted on the Vulcans stern face. “May I inquire as to what you find humorous about quantum indeterminacy?”

Kirk moved his mouth, forming words that never made their presence known. The gaze from the professor was _piercing_, and Jim wracked his brain to find any words at all. He licked his lips and spluttered, “Uh, nothing sir.”

“In that case,” Spock moved out from his position behind the desk and stepped towards the sea of cadets, as if attempting to intimidate Jim by getting the slightest bit closer. “Would you be able to explain what occurs to the position of the particle at the time that you measure its location?”

Kirk’s dumbfounded expression turned into one of annoyance. Sure, he might not have been paying the closest bit of attention to the notes on the board, but he wasn’t ignoring the lecture_._ Everyone seemed to think that Jim barely scraped by in his classes, but he actually _enjoyed _the material. He was sick of being thought of as a bimbo.

Without even so much as a pause in his answer, he replied. “Well, _professor,_” the words slipped from his lips like poison, “which answer would you prefer? The realist position, the orthodox position, or the agnostic position?”

A brief flash of shock appear on the face at the front of the class.

_Point to Jim. _

Like all other emotions from Vulcans, however, it was quickly replaced with a neutral expression. Spock parted his lips as if to answer, but Jim continued.

“If you would like the realist position, then it is simply that the particle was in fact at the position where you measured it to be, when it was measured. To the average person this would make the most sense, as that is how everything else in life works. Hell, it was even the theory that _Einstein_ advocated for, but if it were true, then quantum mechanics is an incomplete theory.” He paused for a moment, only to continue when it seemed as if Spock were to retaliate.

He waved his hands when he spoke, as if trying to depict the importance of water to a fish. “Now the orthodox position, my personal favourite, was that the particle wasn’t really even anywhere at all. This theory states that it is in the mere presence of an observer that the experiment is altered. Really, some existential philosophical bullshit if you think about it, but interesting nonetheless.” He noticed a flinch at the profanity.

Kirk folded his arms across his chest and leant back in his chair, never breaking eye contact with the professor. “The agnostic position is a cop out, if you ask me. It’s literally just refusing to answer. I mean, if you look into it a bit deeper it makes sense because who is to judge the state of a particle _before _you even observe it but still, it’s just everyone’s fall back.”

During Kirks spiel, Spock’s hands had moved behind his back and his eyebrows to the bottom of his bangs. When it was evident that Jim was no longer going to interrupt him, he replied, no praise lining his words. “Very good, Cadet…”

He paused, waiting for Jim to fill in the blanks.

“Kirk, James T.”

“Well done Cadet Kirk. Now,” he moved back behind the desk and glanced up at the students. “If you would continue to pay attention like the rest of your fellows, I will describe the assignment that will need to be completed by the start of next class.”

Groans filled the hall. First class, and homework already? That had to be against some kind of rule.

God, Kirk was starting to hate what Bones deemed “green blooded hobgoblins”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the textbook is actually real and it is kind of amazing.
> 
> https://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-David-Griffiths/dp/1107189632


	2. Chapter 2

Kirk’s PADD chirped from its location beside him on the couch.

He spared a look at the screen and saw the notification of a message. It was Sunday at 7PM – who would even be trying to contact him? He and Bones were both at home, so it couldn’t be a message from his roommate telling him to clean up the pigsty he left behind, which was never even him by the way.

He removed his ankles from where they were crossed on the coffee table in front of him and replaced them with the book he had been reading, page dog-eared to mark his spot. He unlocked the screen and read over the message, which he noticed was from Uhura.

_ Incoming Message From: literal goddess _

_[1924] Hey, you have the assignment done?_

He grimaced as he remembered the work that professor Spock had given the class the Friday before the weekend. Sure it was Sunday, and sure Kirk _had _finished it since it was entirely prerequisite material and took all but 20 minutes, but it’s still against whatever ‘unwritten professor’s code’ was out there to assign work to students on the first day of classes. Doing so without a doubt makes you enemy number one of the student body.

_[1926] yeah I did, why do you want some help? ;)_

He could hear her exasperated sigh within the message she sent back.

_[1927] Yes, James, I would like your help. What did you get as an answer for 3b? _

_[1932] uhhh _

_[1933] |a| = sqrt(4C^2 + F^2G^2)_ _, magnitude constant, direction changes_

_[1937] HOW?_

_[1937] Never mind, I’m coming over._

Jim flung his PADD on the table with a thunk and relaxed back into the couch with a groan. He knew that it wouldn’t take Nyota long to get to their apartment; she only lived a couple of buildings over with her roommate Gaila. All the cadets tended to live in the apartments on or around campus – even if at times they weren’t the best – but hey, the rent was cheap.

Jim called out from where he had practically melted into the couch. “Hey Bones?”

“Yeah?”

He heard the grumble of his roommate come from behind the wall that separated the living area from the kitchen, where he was presumably replicating himself dinner.

Jim sat up and stretched his arms over his head, clasping his fingers together. He moved his shoulder blades backwards languidly, causing his back to arch, and he relished in the sound of his spine cracking.

With another groan, he pushed himself up and he walked over to the kitchen counter beside Bones.

“Uhura is coming over,” he said as he leaned backward, “probably so we can have a lot of very loud, aggressive sex.”

Leonard only spared Jim a side glance from where he was preoccupied stirring what looked like soup on the stove. “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s rainin’ kid, what’s the real reason?”

Jim stared at him blankly. McCoy had his accent and his sweet southern charm, and despite having lived together for the first three years of their training at the Academy, it still took Jim a while to decipher his expressions.

Bones was calling him a liar.

“She needs help with physics,” he said quickly, “but,” he reached over his roommates’ shoulder to grab at the bottle of scotch that was there, and then pointed the neck of it at him accusingly. “I’m attractive. Some might even say I’m _hot_. She would be lucky to have access to all of this.” He gestured over his body with his free hand.

Jim turned around at the replying scoff that came his way and he grabbed two glasses from the cupboard opposite Bones. He walked back to the living room and set them down on the coffee table, opening the scotch and pouring some of the amber liquid into each of the glasses. Jim replaced the lid and put the bottle on the table – it would be needed soon enough that there was really no point in putting it back.

He grabbed one of the cups and walked back towards his roommate.

“What about you,” he crossed his free arm over his chest and leaned back against the counter, “do you have any plans for the rest of the night?”

Leonard finished pouring the remnants of the pot into a bowl before entertaining Jim with an answer. “Now,” He paused with a sharp glare, “I am going to take this,” he gently picked up the bowl and turned to his friend, “and retire to my room where I can study in peace.”

Before Jim could ask him _study for what it’s going to be the second day_, Bones was already halfway down the hallway to his room. And then the front door opened.

Kirk raised his glass in a sarcastic cheer. “Of course, we don’t need to knock!” He downed its contents in one smooth gulp and motioned with his head for Uhura to follow him to the couch, where he refilled his glass. “Knocking is for losers.”

He handed the second glass to Nyota. “So, not even one day in and you already need help? Seems like this semester is going to be rough.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “Tell me about it. Why am I even taking this class, Jim? I’m going into communications; I don’t _need _it.”

“You do if you want to serve on the Enterprise!” He retorted.

Nyota held a strangely intense love for the newest of Starfleet’s flagships and he had to admit, she had good taste. The USS Enterprise was a _beautiful_ vessel. What he wouldn’t do to eventually captain one of those someday…

“So,” he rummaged through his bookbag to grab the quantum mechanics text. “Let’s begin!”

The relationship that Jim shared with Nyota started out as a complicated one but was mutually beneficial towards the end. It started out one night after exams were over; Jim, of course, hit on her in a nearby bar, too drunk to call her anything even remotely respectable. By the time the night was over, Kirk had a bruised eye, a split lip, and a huge crush.

Over their “courtship” as Bones had so lovingly called it, Jim found that he was less interested in getting in Uhura’s pants, and more inclined at getting to know her as a friend. There were so many aspects to her personality that intrigued him, and so, when Kirk found her struggling in one of their shared physics classes in second year, he took her under his mathematical wing.

Jim taught Nyota physics and occasionally calculus, while she reciprocated by teaching him the basics of the most common languages that he would find use of as a Captain. They got to know each other better over coursework, and eventually, didn’t require an assignment as an excuse to spend time together.

He still flirted with her relentlessly, as is in the persona of James T. Kirk, but she took it in stride and insulted him back without hesitation. They were both aware of the dynamic surrounding their friendship, and it had just gotten so familiar. Kirk held Uhura too close to him than he ever thought he would – god, if someone ever tried to act towards her like he had the day they met, Jim would be the one throwing punches.

But that was then, and this was now. As they did often, Jim and Nyota studied until late into the evening. By the time they had finished and Uhura had a basic understanding of the assignment material, the bottle of scotch that started nearly full ended up half empty.

They abandoned their books and put on a movie from the 21st century that they both loved and had seen a hundred times. It had sort of become a ritual to the two of them; study sessions always ended in tipsy talk, so when Uhura started the conversation over the opening credits, Jim wasn’t phased in the slightest.

“You really showed up the prof in class, didn’t you?”

Jim recalled his explanation of the three main theories of quantum indeterminacy and laughed. “I mean, it was pretty basic material. He’s the one who thought I wasn’t paying attention.”

“To be fair, it did seem like you were just fucking around on your PADD.”

Jim shrugged. “I guess so. The look on his face though…”

She let out a soft laugh. “It was a sight to see, that’s for sure.”

“Ugh,” Jim took another sip of his drink. “Vulcans are so… infuriating sometimes.”

Uhura raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips in thought. “Kinda cute though.”

He _was _expecting an old, retired man as a professor, so it was fair to say that Spock was more attractive than the alternative.

And he supposed there was his sharp jawline, leading from his defined cheekbones.

And his muscular body that his uniform clung to a little too tightly.

And his long, lithe fingers moving across the PADD at the front of the class.

And his quiet expressions that Jim seemed to be able to read loud and clear, and his pointed ears that blushed a faint green when Jim caught him off guard, and his eyebrows – _god _those fucking eyebrows – that seemed to rest at the top of his face rather than where they belonged, and his piercing gaze that matched Kirks for a little too long.

Jim downed the rest of his drink a little too quickly. “Yeah, I guess.”

Uhura raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the actors on the screen until Uhura checked her watch and sighed. “I should probably head home; we have class tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m going to have to set like, 20 alarms to wake myself up on time.” Jim rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands. “You want me to walk you?”

She smiled. “I’ll be fine, James.”

“Alright.”

He walked her to the door. “Wanna walk to class together? I can pick you up at 7:30.”

“Sure.” She smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

She turned towards the elevator at the end of the hallway, and Jim watched her ponytail swinging behind her.

He turned towards the direction of his room and let the front door close behind him. He spared a glance at the stove.

_2356_

No wonder he was so tired. 

Jim crossed the threshold of his room and wasted no time in flopping face-first onto his mattress.

As much as his body ached for sleep, he couldn’t stop the thoughts that flashed before his eyes – and they were ones that warded off any potential rest he might get.

The way Spock had looked directly into his eyes, as if squaring him up, searching his _soul_ for any sign of disrespect.

The way Jim had caused Spock to become flustered – a feat by anyone’s standards – and just how good the green flush happened to look on the tips of his ears.

The way he looked when he concentrated on his writing, long fingers gripped around the pen that scratched along the PADD. Was it weird to be fascinated by someone’s hands? Because Jim had an odd interest in the way Spock’s hands looked; their grip on the edge of the desk, the way they folded neatly and rested behind his back, how they’d feel wandering down his chest-

Wait, what?

He flushed. He was basically fantasizing about a professor that he had seen _once_. It must have been the alcohol though, right? It had to be. Booze always seemed to get his libido going, he didn’t truly have a _thing _for the Vulcan. That would have to be considered love at first sight, which definitely didn’t exist, or else people would be falling over Jim left and right.

It must have been because of all the talk he had with Uhura about the professor; that he was the one at the top of Jim’s mind. It was a convenience, the thought of him.

An opportunity, perhaps.

So, if Jim _maybe_ let his mind wander in that direction a little farther that night, then it was purely out of opportunity. A scientific curiosity, even.

Who was he to deny his tipsy brain of its peculiar desires?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter soon!!


	3. Chapter 3

Like Jim promised, he was waiting outside of Uhura’s building at 7:30 sharp the next morning.

The cool September breeze brought along the sound of birds chirping awake, and the earthy scent of dying leaves.

Morbid, maybe, but also strangely beautiful.

The ground was carpeted with fallen leaves, and those which remained on the trees had turned shades of gold and crimson.

Autumn was the beginning of the end; the earths mean of giving ways to a fresh start. It signaled new beginnings, which might be why it was his favourite season. The circle of life never ceased to amaze Jim.

He was deep in thought with his arms covering his chest to keep him warm in the frigid air when he was interrupted by Uhura. She stood in front of Jim with her hands in the pockets of her jacket until he became aware of her presence, at which point they wordlessly started their walk towards campus.

He loved the way he didn’t feel the requirement to idly chat around her, and she never once took offense. Being outgoing was most of his personality, yes, but it could also be extremely draining. The moments he spent with Nyota were ones in which he could recharge, and he was eternally grateful for her companionship.

The walk wasn’t long, and if they talked at all it was unimportant. They simply enjoyed the presence of each other.

When they arrived at the edge of the campus, he realized they had another 15 minutes before their class together would begin. Jim turned to the friend beside him. “Coffee?”

Uhura threw her head back with a groan. “_God,_ yes.”

The pair stopped at a small, campus owned coffee shop that was on the way to the physics building.

Jim had always loved _Stella Capulus_; it was the perfect place for students to hide away from the sense of impending doom that the academy provided. Their coffee was always perfectly brewed, and their pastries baked in house.

In the summer when classes were less demanding, Jim found himself picking up shifts there as a barista. He was charming enough to earn extra tips, and he’d be damned if he said he didn’t brew a mean mocha. The free coffee he was allowed to drink during his shifts? An added bonus.

He greeted the barista on shift with a smile. “Hey Scotty, how’re you doing?”

“Coulda’ be worse, I suppose. The usual for ya, Jim?”

He nodded.

“An whadda ‘bout you lass? Same as always?”

Uhura smiled. “Yes please, Montgomery.”

“Comin’ right up.”

Jim began to reach for his wallet, and Scotty waved him off with a scowl on his face. “Don’t cha even think about it, or yer americano is ‘bout to taste an awful lot like ma’ spit.”

Jim barked out a laugh, and put his wallet away like demanded.

While Scotty was preparing the two drinks, Jim’s eyes wandered around the coffee shop. It was warm compared to the cooler temperature outside, and the smell of cinnamon was wafting from the ovens in the back room. The walls were painted a dark brick, and were covered with unique art and knick-knacks.

For some reason, the place always felt like a second home to him. Strangely enough, for a coffee shop on campus it was rarely busy, which allowed Jim a space to complete his work with no distractions and a nice hot drink. If he wasn’t at home, he could usually be found huddled up on the sofa in the back corner with schoolwork, or even just a book he was reading for pleasure.

“One spitless americano wi’ soy, and one dirty chai,” Scotty called out from the handoff bar. “Hey Jim, cannae speak to ya for a quick second?”

Jim grabbed a lid and covered his coffee. “Sure, what’s up?”

Scotty rubbed at his face in distress. “I hadda newbie quit, ya think ye can pick uppa coupla shifts this weekend?”

Jim contemplated the offer. It was still the first week of classes, so it was practically guaranteed that the homework he’d have, if any, wouldn’t take much time to complete. Besides, he could always use the extra cash.

“Sure,” he shrugged, “it’s the least I could do. Text me the details?”

As the two turned to leave the café, Jim heard Scotty call out, “God bless yer soul, Jim.”

The pair made it to their lecture hall with time to spare, and, much to Jim’s chagrin, Uhura picked seats near the very front of the class.

Sometimes it was infuriating how good of a student she was. The last thing Jim needed for an entire hour was a close-up image of the Vulcan that he spent a little _too _much time thinking about the night prior.

Before he could try and convince her to move a few rows back, the murmurs of the hall quieted down, and Kirk paled.

Professor Spock had entered the lecture hall through a side door and made his way to the desk at the front of the hall. He lowered his satchel beside the chair and bent over to pick up a cord that he attached to his PADD; the movement caused Jim’s eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates.

Sure, he may have let his mind imagine a few of Spock’s _assets_, but the real thing was so much different. So much _better._ The way the fabric of his pants shifted, it highlighted all the best parts and Jim could feel his face heating up.

But he couldn’t look away.

When Spock lifted himself up to place his PADD on his desk, his eyes flickered upwards over the edge of the tablet. They scanned the room, and eventually landed on Jim.

A single eyebrow raised when Spock made eye contact with him, presumably noticing the flush that painted his cheeks. Were Vulcans telepaths?

Oh god, did Spock know exactly what he was thinking?

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Jim jerked his head towards Uhura, who faced him with a look of concern. He smiled awkwardly, and slowly returned his gaze back to the front of the room. He entertained himself with slow sips of his coffee and didn’t _dare_ look upward until the professor started speaking.

When he did, his eyes were still focused on Kirk.

“Good morning, cadets. It is my expectation that todays lesson will proceed with _few interruptions_.” The enunciation on the last words cut through Kirk like a knife. It was evident that Spock was referencing his outburst on Friday, and frankly, Jim felt a little annoyed.

Irritated, even. It was _Spocks_ fault to have underestimated Jim in the first place.

His eyes were still locked on Kirks, apparently waiting for some kind of confirmation that he would _behave _this time. Suddenly, all the previous and slightly inappropriate thoughts Kirk had mustered about the professor vanished from his mind.

He lifted his free hand in a thumbs-up gesture and gave him a tight-lipped smile, both of which seemed to satisfy the Vulcan.

If Spock wanted a good student, Jim would be the _best god-damn student he ever had._

He was nothing if not persistent, so when Spock opened the floor for questions at the end of the first page of material, Kirk’s hand was the first to shoot up.

Spock looked disappointed, but not surprised. “Yes, Cadet Kirk?”

He lowered his hand and but an intentionally confused look on his face. “What do you mean when you say the force of gravity?”

He was met with a few chuckles around the classroom, and a dumbfounded stare from the Vulcan. “You are inquiring as to what comprises the _force of gravity_.”

“Yup.”

Spock seemed as if every part of him was aching to call Jim a _fucking idiot_. Instead, he wrote in very bold letters on the PADD.

F=mg, g=9.81 m/s^2

“Is that a sufficient response?” Spock’s words seemed to be laced with annoyance.

Jim pretended to scribble the equation down profusely. _Of course_ he already knew the equation – it was practically the foundation of physics. Nobody who was eligible to take an advanced class like quantum mechanics _wouldn’t _know what fucking _gravity _was.

“Perfect,” Kirk smiled, “just wanted to be sure.”

Spock tilted his head ever-so-slightly to the side and nodded slowly. “Very well. Any others?”

He waited, and when Kirk realized that nobody else had any actual questions to ask, his hand raised again.

Spock blinked once. “Yes, Cadet Kirk?”

“Just wanted to double-check,” he flipped back a couple of pages in the textbook. “When you were talking about the Schrödinger equation, you mentioned ‘i’. What is that, again?”

Uhura laughed beside him and tried to pass it off as a cough.

Like usual, an eyebrow raised on Spock’s face. “You mean ‘i’ as in the imaginary number.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement, as if trying to decipher the exact level of Kirk’s idiocy.

“Yes, sir.”

Jim swore he heard a slow breath coming from the professors’ mouth; one that could almost be considered a sigh.

_Kirk: 2, Spock: 0_

“The imaginary number, i, is equivalent to the square root of negative one.” His stare was fierce, as if challenging Kirk to raise his hand again. “Are there any other questions?”

This time, there was a hand that raised near the back of the room and whatever strain Spock was holding in his face had dissipated. “Yes?”

While he was busy answering the student’s question – something about using uncertainty values – Uhura turned to him.

“What are you doing?” She whispered harshly.

Kirk shrugged and finished the last bit of his drink. “It seems my _outburst_ last time was a distraction, figured I might just pay attention and ask relevant questions instead.”

Her only response was a roll of her eyes.

Shuffles from around the room sounded out as students began to pack up their belongings.

Professor Spock called out once more from the front of the room. “As you all intend to part in a quick manner, you may be dismissed. I inquire only once more. Questions?”

A wicked grin plastered itself across Kirk’s face, and he raised his hand slowly.

If Spock were human, it’s likely he would have screamed out something to the likes of “Oh my god, what the FUCK do you want this time?”

But he wasn’t, so he didn’t.

His body seemed to relay the message, though.

“Yes, Cadet Kirk, what would you like this time?”

Jim paused for a moment before he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “You single?”

Uhura choked on her drink from beside him, and he could hear murmurs echoing around the hall. Everyone had stopped their movements, paused from where they were filing out of the room, waiting to see what repercussions would fall on the one who asked the inappropriate question.

But none came. No sounds at all fell from the Vulcan’s mouth. Instead of words, his mouth parted ever so slightly and closed almost immediately after. The green flush didn’t stop at his ears, and instead painted his upper cheeks as well.

Kirk did not wait for an answer; he simply slung his bag over his shoulder and smirked in Spock's direction.

He left without looking back. He felt Uhura slap his shoulder, but her face showed that she was amused instead of angry.

Once out in the hallway, he parted from his friend and he smiled to himself.

This game really was turning out to be an easy one.

Kirk: 3, Spock: 0


	4. Chapter 4

It was Thursday morning when Kirk woke up to a shot of red behind his eyelids – his bright-ass, fluorescent overhead lights being turned on.

“Morning, sunshine.” Bones flicked the lights on and off couple of times for good measure.

Kirk groaned, the sound raspy from a voice laced with the lack of use, and he yanked the edge of his duvet over his head. If Bones didn't have a good reason for waking him up at-

He peeked one eye out from under its hiding place to look at the red numbers of his alarm clock.

Jim sat up and flung the blanket off his body. His eyes, where they were still struggling to remain open, were filled to the brim with fury. “5:30 AM?”

Bones was leaning against the door frame of his room with his arms covered across his chest. He was dressed casually – in a cotton t-shirt and dark-wash jeans – although anything that wasn’t scrubs at this point was deemed casual for Bones. His hair was damp and curling at the edges where it sat on his forehead. It was evident that he had already been awake for a while, probably finished the entirety of his morning routine.

God, waking up early for his medical practicum must have really fucked with his sleeping schedule.

“You asked me when I was free for coffee.” He shrugged.

Kirk stared blankly. “A little heads up would have been nice.”

“Well,” he turned to leave Jim’s room, “your head is up now. If you aren’t ready in 15 minutes, I’m going to see Chapel. She’ll _definitely _appreciate my presence.”

“Probably appreciate something else of yours too,” Jim mumbled back.

He flopped uncerimoniously back on to his mattress as Bones left. As much as his eyes begged to be closed, he reluctantly disobeyed and dragged his body out of the warmth and comfort of his bed. He threw on whatever clothing from the floor _didn’t _smell like armpit, and, once fully dressed, he slunk out of his room.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes with a half-closed fist. “You better be paying.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

* * *

When they arrived at Stella Capulus, Scotty was just beginning to fumble with the locks on the front doors of the café.

When he looked up and saw the pair, a bright grin splashed across his face. “Ah, Leonard! Aie havent’a seen you in a hot minute!” He ushered them inside with a wave of his hands, and let the door close naturally behind them.

“Well,” Bones muttered, dejected, “I've been as busy as a one-legged cat in a sandbox.” 

Jim could feel the strange weight that the words held and was suddenly grateful that his roommate had decided to wake him up that morning, albeit the ungodly hour. Bones needed a break, and to be honest, he did too. He needed to occupy his thoughts with something other than a professor who may or may not hate him. Besides, Jim had missed spending time with his best friend.

Although, listening to the battle of the accents happening in front of him? That was something he was quite okay going without at six in the morning.

“Grab a seat, laddies. If yer’ havin’ the usual, I’ll bring it over in just a minute.” Montgomery Scott walked behind the bar, flicked on a couple of lights, and put on his work apron. “Hope is alrigh’ if itsa wee bitta time? I just hafta finish fillin’ the pastry case.”

Jim flashed a smile. “Take your time, Mr. Scott.”

He noticed the glimpse of disgust on Scotty’s face in response to the name, and his smile grew ever-so-slightly.

When he turned back around, McCoy was already occupying their spot in the corner. His jacket was resting over the arm of the chair he was sunken into, his eyes were closed, and it genuinely seemed that this was the first moment in a while where he had taken a moment just to himself.

Jim’s heart ached a bit at the thought.

“So,” the question was out of his friend’s mouth before Jim had even made himself comfortable. “What’s new in your world? What classes are you even taking?”

And as much as Bones hated to admit it, in that moment, it was evident that the idiot really did care for Jim. He may put up a hard exterior filled with threats of hypos, southern slang, and metaphors, but seeing as the first words to exit his mouth were ones asking about Jim’s welfare, it would be a just conclusion to say he was a softy at heart.

Or just a really, _really _good doctor who was fully invested in the wellbeing of his patient.

Jim chose to believe the former.

“I took a couple of summer classes, so I don’t have a full course load this term.” He shuffled around in his armchair as he unbuttoned his jacket. “I have Quantum Mechanics with Uhura on Mondays and Fridays, Interspecies Ethics on Wednesday, and Vulcan History on Tuesday and Thursday.”

Leonard’s head was still resting lightly against the back of the chair and his eyes were shut, as if somehow he could release all the stress from the lines of his face if he just kept his eyes closed a little longer. He hummed in response to Jim’s answers, fully attentive to the conversation despite his interest in the back of his eyelids.

It was at that moment that Scotty interrupted with their drinks – the americano with soy for Jim, a hazelnut latte with skim for Leonard, and a fresh plate of scones for the two of them to snack on.

“Oh my god,” Jim’s stomach practically screamed from the smell of the baked goods in front of them, “these look delicious.”

“Yeah well, they’re ma rejects so yer more than welcome to ‘em.” Scotty placed them on the table and was thanked by the pair. “By the way Jim, yer still good to work this weekend?”

Jim brushed away the crumbs of the scone he had already half-shoved into his mouth. “Mhmm,” he hummed, “when do you need me for?”

“Saturday and Sunday opening?” Scotty seemed lost in thought for a brief moment before his eyes became alert again. The look he shot Jim was a pleading one. “Maybe the week after as well?”

Instead of replying verbally, he gave Scotty a thumbs up, who then threw a ‘thanks’ over his shoulder as he shuffled back to the front where customers had started filtering in.

The coffee shop was waking up with the sound of clattering dishes and gentle, acoustic music. Jim had always loved the ambiance of cafés; he required sounds to concentrate – was never able to do it with pure silence – and so the background bustle of patrons catching up over coffee and pastries had become an indulgence of his. Their soft hushes folded over his brain like a blanket, and he could filter out the incessant thoughts that never ceased inside his mind, and he could focus on the equations in his textbooks instead.

He swallowed his mouthful of scone before continuing the conversation with his roommate.

“What about you?” Jim cradled his coffee against his chest, let the warmth seep through his fingers and into his sternum. “What’s been keeping you so busy?”

He noticed a glimpse of silver being shoved back in the pocket of McCoy’s jacket, and the questions he would soon berate his friend with immediately died in his throat. Did he ju-

Did he just spike his latte?

Actually, Jim thought, that made a lot of sense. It made _a lot_ of things start to make sense.

McCoy took a long swig of his coffee before replying. “My practicum.” He let out a pained sigh. “Medical is in serious need of senior med officers, so they’ve been fast-tracking all of the academy training. I started almost a month early and have been going pretty much 60 hours a week. They even have me pre-assigned CMO aboard the USS Enterprise.”

Well, that explained the sheer lack of Leonard in their apartment as of late. The Enterprise wasn’t set to abandon Earth’s orbit until the end of the academic year – the pressure must be immense with the Federation if they have drafted a med student into the role of Chief Medical Officer of their newest flagship. It sure explained all the studying and the alone time on McCoy’s end. And all the booze.

“Jeez.” The sympathy dripped from his words like molasses. “Next time you have a night off we should go out to a bar, drown all your stress in whiskey while we can.”

Bones raised his glass. “I’ll drink to that.” He grabbed his own scone and picked pieces off gently. “’Nuff about me. What else have you been doing? Surely you can’t be all tied up in three classes.”

Well, it was mostly one class in particular that was taking up his free time – and all his free attention. Vulcan History was fine, he supposed. A bit difficult with all the new vocabulary of a foreign language, but he had Uhura to help him with some of that at least. Interspecies ethics was a joke of a class; practically the repetition of the words “don’t fucking offend anybody or we’ll rip your faces off”.

His mind began to cloud with images of an individual – of sleek black hair, skin flushed an olive green, pointed ears. Quantum Mechanics on the other hand…

Now that was something he found himself thinking of more often than not.

The course material wasn’t that difficult – for now at least. He was able to complete the assignments relatively easily, he understood the reading, but his mind always seemed to wander in class from the words his professor was speaking to the place where they were coming from. It was often difficult to tear Jim’s attention from the way his professor looked, his teaching robes flowing gently as he walked from one edge of the room to the other; the way the sleeves hung to the tips of his fingers, covering his hands completely when they were folded in front of him. The stark contrast of the dark greys to the pale green-tinted skin.

But, wait a minute. That wasn’t in his imagination.

That was about ten feet away.

At the counter.

Ordering a drink.

Jim must have been staring, because Bones threw an arm over the back of his chair, turned around somewhat aggressively, to look wherever Jim had shifted his attention. “Who the hell is that?”

The strength of his voice caused the Vulcan in question to cast a glance over to the two of them.

He did what Jim could almost call a double take.

And then the tips of his ears proceeded to blush a faint green. For a species intent on hiding all semblance of emotion, he was surely not doing the best job. It was evident that he hadn’t forgotten about the question Jim had raised at the end of the last class, especially seeing that he was refusing to look in their direction at all anymore, gaze burning a hole through the back of Scotty’s head where he was turned around, presumably making the professors drink.

Jim’s eyes never left Spock as he answered Bones. “That”, a break, “is my Quantum Mechanics professor.”

McCoy straightened his spine and glared in Jim’s direction, annoyance written in the lines between his eyebrows. “Why is it,” he took a swig of his latte, “that you seem to like everything green except for the vegetables that you really should be eating?”

Slowly but surely, sunshine lit up the room in the form of Jim’s smile. Laughter bubbled from his chest, light as air and filling the room with ease. He could swear he saw the flush on pointed ears burn a shade darker.

Once the laughter died down, Jim’s own cheeks seemed to betray him by heating up a sliver. “Who said I liked him?”

An eyebrow scaled the forehead of the doctor-to-be. His eyes pierced Jim’s in a way that could only be called interrogative, yet he remained silent.

“Listen, if Uhura told you anything about me asking about his relationship status then I can assure you it was purely out of malice.”

Bones barked his own laugh at that. “Honey, you’re gayer than a handbag full of rainbows. If you asked that man _anything _about his personal life, it’s because you want to ride him like a rollercoaster.”

“Hey,” Jim’s face was now as red as the cranberries in the scones they had abandoned. “I can have small talk with men and not be interested in them romantically. Also,” he punctuated the last word with a jab of his index finger, “I like women too.”

“Yeah, yeah,” an eye-roll, “so, why then does that hobgoblin look like he wants to run away the second he possibly can?”

Jim sipped at his own drink. “Probably because he does. A possible consequence of the question I asked.”

A hum from someone deep in thought came from his friend. “So, she wasn’t lying.”

“Nyota? She was not.”

Another hum. “Did he answer it?”

“He did not.”

“Probably means he’s not romantically involved at the moment.”

It was Jim’s turn to furrow his eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”

“Well,” Bones crossed his right ankle over his left knee. “He wouldn’t be acting like a little schoolgirl if he was in a relationship.”

He wasn’t sure of exactly how much of the conversation that Spock had heard, but Bones was right in his assumption that as soon as the Vulcan’s drink was in hand, he practically sprinted for the door.

Jim paused for a couple of seconds, hands gripping the edge of his seat, ready to push his body weight off in an instant if required. His face seemed pained, contemplating all the pros and cons of a situation in seconds.

Another roll of eyes came from Bones. “Go after him.” He sighed.

And Jim was up, out of the door within seconds; coffee and jacket forgotten on the armchair as he bolted to the entrance of the shop, chasing after his Professor.


End file.
